Member's Holiday Greetings and Layouts Here!!!

Merry Christmas from (Scale Rail) Don and Vicky

Originally aired 2015...

Excellent idea!!!  

A Christmas tradition Don.

MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone! 

Surely there are more posts to come???  Hope this is just a little early and we don't have a bah humbug!!

I can't put the train around the tree until my wife finishes decorating it, and she doesn't start decorating until after Thanksgiving. I'll get it put up in a week or so and post some photos. It's going to be old school LGB this year with the tinplate down on the basement layout.

George

OGR CEO-PUBLISHER posted:

Surely there are more posts to come???  Hope this is just a little early and we don't have a bah humbug!!

Most people are probably still working off their tryptophan stupors  

I won’t even make it home till tomorrow and it will probably be a week before I get to decorating. This year, I will finally break out a bunch of my Dept. 56 Snow Village houses for the layout (sorry... no tall buildings!!!). Pics will, inevitably, follow.

In the past I had a Christmas layout pretty well set up by early December.  However, this year is different after my total knee replacement last month.  We fumbled the tree up and the lights are on but that’s all.  I am thinking of just setting up a snowy diorama on the new layout I started this year.  At least I could put the Polar Express on the track for basically a static display.  

I’m looking forward to seeing this topic take off in the three weeks ahead.  Yes, only three weeks!

I`m still working on my rendition of Lionel`s D-192, currently, i`m pushing trains around by hand to see if there will be any problems, so far, so good, if all goes well tomorrow, i`ll start the wiring phase, pics will come when it`s all up and running, Happy Holidays everyone, Phil

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays ! 

The CVSR Polar Express and work keeping me too busy to set up a Christmas floor layout yet.   Here are a  few views from the CVSR Polar Express last week as we deadheaded to Akron.

2007 in the family room......my basement layout didn't get started till 2011.

2008 in the family room......

2008 in my office waiting room....

Peter

The above train and station were a Christmas gift from my parent in the early 80’s.  Still runs well today as shown under this years family christmas tree.

I stumbled across this YouTube video this afternoon.  Kind of reminds me of the Christmas montages Don (Scale Rail) has put together.

https://youtu.be/eSRcJCOQTGQ

Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays to all!

Curt

A couple montages from R J Davis, from eight years ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFmEfFAlsWA&t=14s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H9sPcNJ7vQ&t=4s

RIP RJ, we miss ya.

PD

Peter, I always like your enthusiasm for what proves all of us are little boys.  The 2008 photograph of you in the Manhattan College shirt and Yankees hat could be any of us if we would only let our inner child show!

Put this in at the Mall in Johnson City, TN at Santas Village. Features a 50's era display with a running drive in Movie theater playing 50's commercials and movies.

From the archives, a Christmas display assembled for an OGR build-a-small-holiday-layout contest:

Jammed as much as I could on a 4x4 sheet of plywood...man, that was a fun project!

Merry Christmas, everyone...

PD

Merry Christmas everyone from the Bellevue and Schenectady RR!! Its Christmas in Schenectady!!

Happy Holidays everyone!  I think this year’s layout is our biggest yet. Thankful that our “kids” (in their 20’s) were here this weekend to help out.  Truly a family effort - which made it fun in building. Great posts everyone - fun to see all of the different trains, layouts, and posts to celebrate The Season.

Two Hudsons making the circuits tonight: a post war ‘64 773 and the newer 783:

Scenes around the layout:

Here’s a short video:

Thank you Alan for starting a great thread and all you, your staff and the forum sponsors do for our hobby.  Happy Holidays everyone!

2019 Christmas trains 🎄 Enjoy and Merry Christmas 🎁 

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Quanza..... whatever holiday you choose to celebrate may it be JOYfilled!! 

This is my 8th year putting up a Christmas layout and it’s the 8th different one. So naturally it usually gets completed late Christmas Eve. This was last years 

Going back through my pics.....

The basement layout decorated up in 2013....

I have too many Christmas cars even then.....the OGR Beep is a helper engine....

Fast forward to 2014.......

Peter

Basement layout......2016.....

Though it doesn't look it, this next layout is actually a Christmas layout......on the floor of my bedroom in the Bronx, either 72-73 or 73-74. It is significant in that it was my last layout, and the last time that I took out the trains until 1980 (this is about the time school really started heating up).

Nothing with trains until early 1980, when as a medical intern in Baltimore, I saw an ad in the Baltimore Sun for a Greenberg Train & Toy Show at Towson State. I went. The bug was rekindled, and I asked my parents to bring the trains down when they visited at Easter.  Trains ever since......

Peter

Great idea Alan. I would like to wish all my train friends a very Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah and a VERY happy and healthy New Year. We bought a place in Florida in mid-2018 and now spend winters here (not much sense spending the summers here). I miss the NJHR Christmas party and train show. And Trainstock and Springfield. But not enough to be back in the northeast in the winter.

Bob Bruno, a NJHR member, just passed. We had some club internal e-mails. Bob was a really great guy. I've periodically invited people to my house to play with trains, and have totally enjoyed doing that. The attached picture of "train guys" is from 2013. Bob is between John Scaravella and Dotty. He was always a pleasure to be with. Other people in the picture are Bill Parkinson, Erol (Locolawyer), Bob DeGuarde, Captain John, Alex, me (behind John), Carl, Dotty and Marty. As Mike Caruso says, all in front of my "wall of hats".

The other picture is of my grandchildren Theo and Rory having fun acting as train tunnels. Gotta have fun!

Gerry

Holiday greetings to all from the Great Northeastern Railway!

Take a ride through our layout with this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXWcvnSzFec

Our former "Chairman of the Bored", Chaz Harrison, says, " Happy holidays to all and to all a MEOW!"

Merry Christmas to All !!! 
Happy Hanukkah !!

I hope everyone enjoys their holiday season!...may you all have a warm, wonderful time with family and friends......and trains!.......Pat

Well ok, i cant start the trains until the tree is completed!   So here is the tree just finished.  I will then get some train shots in the next few days.

Here is previous layout, well one side of it.

A very happy Christmas to everyone and thank you all for your help and knowledge on all things O gauge.

We live in a great country and the people on this forum prove it!!

Holiday Greetings forum friends.  The tree is up and the trains are running.    This was my gift Christmas morning 1973.   Lionel MPC Cannonball set.   ATSF 2-4-0 #8300 is still pulling fast and strong at 46 years old.

Peter that Super O track looks GREAT!  Also on this thread, I love the two Hudsons, and the Cannonball, which was my brother’s first train!  Great thread, I’ll be checking back later in the season!!

Here's a long exposure night shot that looks crazy with everything running.

MikeH posted:

Here's a long exposure night shot that looks crazy with everything running.

Wow! That’s incredibly elaborate!

George

Well, I remembered I had some pictures from past years. Here’s Santa greeting some passengers at the station.

Happy Holidays!

George

Mike McCutcheon posted:

Holiday Greetings forum friends.  The tree is up and the trains are running.    This was my gift Christmas morning 1973.   Lionel MPC Cannonball set.   ATSF 2-4-0 #8300 is still pulling fast and strong at 46 years old.

Nice!  I got the Lionel Cannonball set for Christmas 1973 as well, and still have it in my collection.

VistaDomeScott posted:

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays ! 

The CVSR Polar Express and work keeping me too busy to set up a Christmas floor layout yet.   Here are a  few views from the CVSR Polar Express last week as we deadheaded to Akron.

Now those are darn way COOL handrails!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Bob, we took that car and three others across the Sierras about ten years ago. They were owned by a wonderful guy that ran them with Amtrak a few times a year. Here is a little video of that trip. Don

Merry Christmas From the Brisbane Bushongs: Matt, Jesusa, Chance and Dash

Merry Christmas to train lovers everywhere.........

Ready for the season.  Top photos are final product.  Happy holidays to all!

Decorated and ready for the Holiday Season...expectations are high with lots of peep’s stopping by! 🎄🚂🎅🏻

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

scale rail posted:

Bob, we took that car and three others across the Sierras about ten years ago. They were owned by a wonderful guy that ran them with Amtrak a few times a year. Here is a little video of that trip. Don

Must have been Mike Abernethy and his Zephyr Route Tours?  Mike still runs trips with various cars.  Although the cars you were on are now owned by the CVSR.  Mike continues work on restoring his Silver View dome observation. He has contributed decorative steel elements to CVSR'S Silver Bronco dome.

Finished the tree and village about an hour ago. Asked my girls what train they wanted under the tree and of course they all replied they wanted the “Girls Set”!

Merry Christmas everyone!  Don’t forget the reason for the season!

the Southern Pacific coming into town:

Just started Christmas layout so no pictures yet. Does anyone have pictures of their favorite Santa’s workshop building?

MERRY CHRISTMAS from the High Plains 3 Railers ! cCccC

Colorado

Big Louie:

At the North Pole served by the Great Northeastern Railway, Santa's Workshop is either a Department 56 or Lemax building (I can't remember from several years ago) and has a large window behind which Santa is hard at work all year around. In the second photo, Santa's workshop is partially obscured by the North Pole sign.

Another great North Pole building by Lemax to the left of Santa's workshop in the second photo is the toy factory. It has several moving parts such as a toy train running and a hot air balloon that rises and comes back down.

Happy Holidays to all.

SNOW Module - https://steves3roscale.shutterfly.com/pictures/3524

“Let it snow” returns again…

where is that train?...

Howard

 Few of my favorite things. Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas 

I haven't visited the forum in a long time.   What ever happen to the weekly Sunday photo thread? 

I'd like to take this time to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and I hope you had a great Thanksgiving too.  As for me, there will be no tree or decorations this Christmas, I'm still packing for the upcoming move.  All of our Christmas decorations have all been packed and put in the PODS along with all of my trains.  Maybe next year we'll be settled in our new home and I'll be able to put something down around the Christmas Tree.  In the mean time, I'm enjoying all that you guys have shown.  Alan, thanks so much for setting this up, it was a great idea.

Our Christmas layout this year.  Hope everyone is having a blessed holiday season so far!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells GEVO all the way. Oldmike

Here is my Train around the Tree, though not seen is the Lionel Bluetooth Radio Tower. Those purple looking lights are bats, our One light strand isn't quite long enough for our tree, so we reused some Halloween Lights. That will probably be the extent of our tree decorating since we have a cat that likes to climb a tree and knock down ornaments. I would like to possibly next year do a bit more for the Layout around the Christmas tree, but this was kind of thrown together in a couple of hours at most.

This photo gives little hint of all life had in store for me: Two head-on car accidents (neither my fault), an arson fire that destroyed all of my life's output as an artist (plus all the equipment, musical instruments, recording studio), a bankruptcy as a result, loosing my home to eminent domain (dramatically downsizing my trains), and then this past summer having my car totaled by a guy who was texting while driving (and also speeding). Given the extensive damage, I'm lucky I walked away from that with no injuries.

This photo above is special for me in more than is seen. I'd had taken my family archives before my fire: Multiple cases full of slides, photos, home movies. I'd had planned on copying everything and organizing it all. Instead, it all burned with everything else I had.

So the above photo is one of a very few that was salvaged, not being damaged beyond repair. I wish you could see the train, but you can see the 027 track around the Christmas tree and the transformer... Ah, the importance of the much derided starter set!

Life's lessons are sometimes hard, but I've learned to be content and appreciative for what I have - and that includes my trains... my perfectly scale 027 trains!

Even without the "latest and greatest," when I put my hand to the transformer, it's one place where I have some control in life.

So in my book, Merry Christmas is less about what you get under the tree, as it is being thankful for everything that is already around the tree.

Christmas comes to the FCC. (Filing Cabinet Central!)

I am working on a tinplate layout, but here is a Christmas diorama from about 15 years ago and my days of more realistic railroading. Happy Holidays to all my old and future forum friends. Happy to be back.

It was light up night over the week end  pretty nice crowd came out for the first annual event...

DanssuperO posted:

It was light up night over the week end  pretty nice crowd came out for the first annual event...

 

 

 

 

Those red pumpkins are unique

"Those red pumpkins are unique "...... I know!!! I told the mayors office they should send out the trash guys to pick them up their starting to rot!!!  (lol)

Will posted:

I am working on a tinplate layout, but here is a Christmas diorama from about 15 years ago and my days of more realistic railroading. Happy Holidays to all my old and future forum friends. Happy to be back.

Welcome back, Will! Those diorama photos are really very nice. Is the tinplate layout you're building Standard Gauge or O gauge? I am a BIG fan of tinplate!

Will posted:

I am working on a tinplate layout, but here is a Christmas diorama from about 15 years ago and my days of more realistic railroading. Happy Holidays to all my old and future forum friends. Happy to be back.

Awesome!

I just finished the flash layout display for my church’s annual Breakfast With Santa. Four days to set up, four hours to take down.  

Losing my mind. My Christmas layout is stuck right now. My Lionel Gateman quit last year. I bench tested him at the time, and he worked fine. I decided to replace the wiring in the layout before I put it away. Everything looks good, but he won’t come out! I stole a platform from my basement layout, but I don’t like it in the front, so I can’t spread snow and detail the layout until I put something else there. Really running behind this year, and I am really going to miss my Gateman. 

Scrambler81 posted:

Losing my mind. My Christmas layout is stuck right now. My Lionel Gateman quit last year. I bench tested him at the time, and he worked fine. I decided to replace the wiring in the layout before I put it away. Everything looks good, but he won’t come out! I stole a platform from my basement layout, but I don’t like it in the front, so I can’t spread snow and detail the layout until I put something else there. Really running behind this year, and I am really going to miss my Gateman. 

I had a similar issue with my Nutcracker Gateman, bench tested fine, but refused to open when installed on the layout.  It turned out to be the accessories post on the C-80 transformer quit working.  I swapped out the transformer and it worked great after that.

Samplingman posted:

Scrambler81 posted:

Losing my mind. My Christmas layout is stuck right now. My Lionel Gateman quit last year. I bench tested him at the time, and he worked fine. I decided to replace the wiring in the layout before I put it away. Everything looks good, but he won’t come out! I stole a platform from my basement layout, but I don’t like it in the front, so I can’t spread snow and detail the layout until I put something else there. Really running behind this year, and I am really going to miss my Gateman. 

I had a similar issue with my Nutcracker Gateman, bench tested fine, but refused to open when installed on the layout.  It turned out to be the accessories post on the C-80 transformer quit working.  I swapped out the transformer and it worked great after that.

I had a CW80 that came with my original Polar Express set.  The accessories posts had no output.  Someone here on the Forum informed me you can turn it off and on.  I downloaded the instructions from the Lionel website and turned the accessories output back on.  I don’t remember what you do since I sold that set two years ago after buying the LC Bluetooth PE set with the snow on the car roofs, but you should be able to search for the manual on the website 

Christmas layouts start at 2:04.....December 1958.....and go till about 1963...

Peter

Peter, Thank you for the vintage Condro family Christmas film!  What a treasure you have!!!  As I recall I’m only 3 or 4 years younger than you, but there are virtually no photographs or movies of my family until I got a Kodak instamatic camera in my early teens.  Then film and developing were expensive for a kid, so I have few photographs.  

SIRT, your pictures are the most amazing 3rail pictures I have ever seen. Simply beautiful. 

Set up an o27 circle at work today for the Christmas luncheon.   I have officially been paid to play with trains.   Life isn't too bad. 

Hi all,

Just finished putting this video together (the village went up during the first week of November). If you want to see the train shots, go to 4:08. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_agqDlnsGig&t=5s 

Merry Christmas! 

Putnam Division posted:

Christmas layouts start at 2:04.....December 1958.....and go till about 1963...

Peter

I bet this kid will grow up always liking toy trains!! 

WOW. Great video.

92hatchattack posted:

I haven't visited the forum in a long time.   What ever happen to the weekly Sunday photo thread? 

Always look for Scott in the Hat. (the Cat in the Hat) Fridays?

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...nd-photo-fun-12-6-19

Our Christmas Lionel Train layout. Not easy to sit in any of the chair unless you navigate several train tracks. The Layout covers most of the Living Room and the Dining Room. Takes about a week to setup and get operational.

Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:

 Few of my favorite things. Happy Holidays

Can’t go wrong with Pennsy and New York Central... great pics Dave.

A quick vid of what we did at the redrockbill house this year. Not too different than previous years at this house, other than a few additions to consists and a simplified loop on the village set up (because hard wood floors do not play nice with middle age knees!). Hope everyone enjoys the video and that Christmas and the holiday season bring health, happiness, and joy to all!

redrockbill

My office layout. It may be small but it brings big smiles! Merry Christmas.

More or less the same since 1986.

A Merry Christmas in New York City

Very cool Skip!

Took over my wife’s craft table this year to get the trains off the floor.

Merry Christmas to all!

Currently working on a larger video to share with you all soon, but in the meantime I'd like to show some of my photos, featuring perhaps the most Christmassy steam locomotive in operation today.

Simmering in Owosso, Pere Marquette no. 1225 awaits departure on the very first North Pole Express run this season.

This shows well how dirty the Steam Railroading Institute lets her get. It definitely provides an experience like no other, though if it were my choice she would be sparkling clean.

Now departing Owosso, the 1225 crawls across Main Street, past the old Robbin's Furniture Warehouse. This makes for one of the most timeless scenes on the line.

For many, this is the money shot of the entire trip. Pere Marquette no. 1225 gallops through the small town of Carland in perhaps the most famous scene she goes through every year.

Two weeks after my visit, this was the site of a near-miss incident between the locomotive and a pedestrian who was standing much too close to the tracks. While this person escaped with only a torn jacket, it serves as a haunting reminder as to why rail safety is so important. Remember to stay a safe distance from the tracks when you're along the railroad, and to remind those you see that are too close to stay back!

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to All!

I scaled back again this year with only one O Gauge loop around our tree.   MTH 260-E with 710 passenger cars make  the circuit.  A Merry Christmas to all.

BobbyD posted:

VistaDomeScott posted:

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays ! 

The CVSR Polar Express and work keeping me too busy to set up a Christmas floor layout yet.   Here are a  few views from the CVSR Polar Express last week as we deadheaded to Akron.

Now those are darn way COOL handrails!!

I bet one can duplicate it with a K Line/ Lionel scale dome car and some smd LEDs along with exposed fibre optic cable!

A couple pictures of the 2019 Living room tree, Snow Village Buildings and last year's Santa Fe Super Chief starter set.

Edited to add this short video.

How about this! The Ritz-Carlton here on Maui made a full sized copy of the Sugar Cane Train with 21000 gingerbread cookies. Their own staff baked and built the loco. Merry Christmas. Don

scale rail posted:

How about this! The Ritz-Carlton here on Maui made a full sized copy of the Sugar Cane Train with 21000 gingerbread cookies. There own staff baked and built the loco. Merry Christmas. Don

Is there a tank car with a load of milk behind the Loco?,

Just Kidding this is assume!

Allan Miller posted:

Will posted:

I am working on a tinplate layout, but here is a Christmas diorama from about 15 years ago and my days of more realistic railroading. Happy Holidays to all my old and future forum friends. Happy to be back.

Welcome back, Will! Those diorama photos are really very nice. Is the tinplate layout you're building Standard Gauge or O gauge? I am a BIG fan of tinplate!

Hi Allan, long time no see. It's O gauge, using my Dad's original trains, liberally supplemented with purchases. Trying to use as much or all original equipment, all pre-war. Doing a lot of restoration!  It's just 4 x 6 but will resemble a Lionel catalogue layout of the period, but in winter. Just finishing some wiring, It won't get finished this year, but I will post some progress pics. 

I've discovered I love tinplate. It's more like the abstract art I make. All about arranging the pieces and balancing the color. Realistic modeling is very different- more about copying nature. 

prrhorseshoecurve posted:

BobbyD posted:

VistaDomeScott posted:

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays ! 

The CVSR Polar Express and work keeping me too busy to set up a Christmas floor layout yet.   Here are a  few views from the CVSR Polar Express last week as we deadheaded to Akron.

Now those are darn way COOL handrails!!

I bet one can duplicate it with a K Line/ Lionel scale dome car and some smd LEDs along with exposed fibre optic cable!

Except fiber optic doesn't shine along the length of it, only the ends. You could try sanding it, I guess, but then the light would all just escape near the source.

The Christmas "train garden" is a tradition in our family for over 80 years.  Here is 2019.

Merry Christmas 

You packed a lot of interest into that layout, Steve!

Mark Boyce posted:

You packed a lot of interest into that layout, Steve!

Thanks Mark.  

We have a scavenger hunt that visitors fill out as well.  

Some slow motion action.

Merry Christmas everyone!  Here's a couple pics of my Christmas village.  More of a diorama than a layout, but included is my version of the Diesel Polar Express with an Alco FA at the head.  I also added some staium lights for the hockey rink this year.

- Nick

Nick, the layout looks great!  The lights on the rink are great!  Time for an outdoor Winter Classic game!!!

Here is a video showing the trains around the family room Christmas Tree.  The Polar Express passenger cars’ lighting has been upgraded to LED strips using my version of GunrunnerJohn’s lighting module.  Probably won’t put buildings around this tree other than possibly an old Lionel No. 133 station I bought a battery operated string of blinking LED’s to decorate it with.